In the field of personalized portraits, it is known to provide a painted backdrop for an individual to stand before, whose picture is taken with a camera so that the end result is a photograph where the person's image is superimposed against the backdrop. Similarly, it is known to create an image of a user digitally using a computer and stored digital images (See U.S. Pat. No. 6,507,361). It is known in the field that videos can be taken where the user stands in a booth and performs for a few minutes while a video recorder records the user's voice and actions.
Finally, it is known in the field that in-home set-ups an operator can capture the image of themselves, or a customer's image can be manually inserted, through the use of a digital camera or scanner and standard imaging software cut and paste processes, placed as a single image to be merged into either a still or film clip in a single pose, cut out, pasted on a standard generic body that is size and one skin tone.
These previously known methods present a number of problems. In the first instance the camera must be loaded and the film processed, there are lighting challenges and the user does not have the ability to preview and edit the final product before printing it. Secondly, the user has only the option of selecting one of a series of still images where the choices are limited. Thirdly, where the user stands in the booth and has their image continually recorded for several minutes, the user feels awkward, it is boring and therefore does not have the mass appeal that is desirous of a professional video tape, resulting in an amateurish product. Finally, regarding the in-home video games, the user must purchase costly equipment and integrate their image on their own with a stock one sized body producing an unnatural and undesirable end product where every user (whether a seven-year-old boy or a 50-year-old woman) will have the same size and shape of body attached to their head. The cost of the necessary equipment alone places the product outside the realm of mass marketing.
On another, subject, many travelers desire to communicate with their friends and relatives during their travels. Some are desirous of retaining souvenirs. Many wish to send a photograph of themselves in front of various national treasures or historical monuments, or take home videos of the same tourist attractions with a different user over and over again.